FAQs

Q: Is your software certified?

Yes. AWARDS is certified as an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for Meaningful Use and is fully interoperable with any other federally certified system for participation in Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). AWARDS is the only web-based Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) software system that is also certified as a Behavioral Health EHR .

Q: What is “Software As A Service”?

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a way of delivering software over the Internet rather than loading it into a computer. A few related terms are “cloud computing” and being “web-based.” The software and data reside at a professional data center instead of being installed on individual computers.

Q: How can Software As A Service help me?

The SaaS model provides top-of-the-line software that is more affordable, more secure, easier to upgrade, easier to fix and much easier to implement than traditional software. One major problem with running a nonprofit organization is that direct-care staff spends too much time and energy keeping and reporting data for other agencies. Staff members often spend as much time working on reports, records and filing as they do serving their clients. Using traditional software to solve this problem would require the purchase of the application itself, the networking hardware to run it, and a highly skilled network administrator. This can cost upwards of $300,000, with ongoing costs of $100,000 per year. Foothold Technology offers a superior level of service, without any administrative burdens, for a fraction of the cost.

Q: What software does Foothold use?

Foothold Technology has created a software application that supports an array of agency standard activities including: client charts, direct Medicaid billing, hospitalization records, property maintenance, personnel, email, government reporting, internal auditing and vacancy management. This application, named AWARDS (Affordable Wide Area Relational Database System) is written in PHP on a Postgres database in a UNIX environment presently on Linux servers.

Q: Can the software be configured for my organization?

Yes. AWARDS was designed by and for human service providers, so you’ll find much of the functionality you need is already there. However, we recognize that every agency is unique. Therefore, when you get started, you will have your own Implementation Consultant helping you to configure the database to reflect your agency’s particular needs. You can also create your own custom forms and assessments with the ReportBuilder tools built into each module of AWARDS.

Q: Why does the interface look so simple?

AWARDS is designed for ease of use by agency staff. The software is intentionally self-explanatory; no user manual is necessary but we do provide comprehensive online help. The user logs on to the AWARDS homepage, enters a password and username, chooses an activity and is then taken through a series of pages designed to collect all information relevant to the task at hand. The menu screens provide clear graphics of options while simultaneously using as little data as possible to enable the fastest web transmission possible. The email application in AWARDS is also unique in that it is linked to other application modules. Email in AWARDS is used to deliver “ticklers,” “key data entry alerts” and “snapshot reports” while maintaining HIPAA compliance.

Q: Who owns the data?

You own the data, which is kept securely and confidentially in Foothold’s data center.

Q: Is training included?

Yes. Classroom-style training is provided in Foothold’s facility or at a site of your choosing. We use a train-the-trainer model, which allows your agency to develop onsite expertise of AWARDS and create the institutional memory that will be required for successful usage of AWARDS as staff turnover takes its toll.

Q: What about technical support?

We provide an unmatched level of customer support and partnership. On day one, your agency will be led by a Senior Project Manager and Implementation Consultant, who are dedicated to you for the life of our partnership. Our training model includes classroom-style training, an extensive online help library with video tutorials, and ongoing learning opportunities through a series of free online webinars. Technical support is provided through a secure Help Desk and Quality Assurance team. .

Q: What are the hardware requirements for using your software?

You need a computer with the latest version of a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome and an Internet connection. AWARDS works with any operating system. However, if an agency uses Windows XP, we recommend either upgrading the operating system or using Chrome or Firefox as the browser.